Kansas City, Mo.-based St. Luke's Health System has strengthened its partnership with 37-physician Cardiovascular Consultants, according to a St. Luke's news release.
Cardiovascular Consultants currently holds a management agreement with the health system to provide strategic and operational oversight of the entire system's cardiovascular services. The partnership integrates the cardiology practice with the 11-hospital health system, and the new entity will be called Saint Luke's Cardiovascular Consultants. The financial arrangement between the two groups was not disclosed.
The integration is intended to improve the quality and delivery of care while preparing both groups for new demands created by healthcare reform. "This [integration] represents a significant step forward in completing our vision of a seamlessly integrated continuum of care that ensures clinical excellence to the patients we serve," G. Richard Hastings, president and CEO of Saint Luke's Health System, said in the release.
The decision of the practice to integrate with St. Luke's comes as several market forces are compelling more physicians to more closely align with health systems. "This new model allows us to embrace these changes with a fully-integrated model that meets the needs of today and anticipates the needs of tomorrow," Kenneth C. Huber, MD, CEO of Saint Luke's Cardiovascular Consultants and co-executive medical director of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart and Vascular Institute, said in the release. "The goal is simple — deliver the most efficient, effective and seamlessly integrated care possible."
Read the St. Luke's release on St. Luke's Cardiovascular Consultants.
Cardiovascular Consultants currently holds a management agreement with the health system to provide strategic and operational oversight of the entire system's cardiovascular services. The partnership integrates the cardiology practice with the 11-hospital health system, and the new entity will be called Saint Luke's Cardiovascular Consultants. The financial arrangement between the two groups was not disclosed.
The integration is intended to improve the quality and delivery of care while preparing both groups for new demands created by healthcare reform. "This [integration] represents a significant step forward in completing our vision of a seamlessly integrated continuum of care that ensures clinical excellence to the patients we serve," G. Richard Hastings, president and CEO of Saint Luke's Health System, said in the release.
The decision of the practice to integrate with St. Luke's comes as several market forces are compelling more physicians to more closely align with health systems. "This new model allows us to embrace these changes with a fully-integrated model that meets the needs of today and anticipates the needs of tomorrow," Kenneth C. Huber, MD, CEO of Saint Luke's Cardiovascular Consultants and co-executive medical director of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart and Vascular Institute, said in the release. "The goal is simple — deliver the most efficient, effective and seamlessly integrated care possible."
Read the St. Luke's release on St. Luke's Cardiovascular Consultants.